Artificial flower



May 12,' 1942 T. KIRCHEN 2,282,657

ARTIFICIAL FLOWER Filed July 5, 1940 Maffe/@7% Patented May 12, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ARTIFICIAL FLOWER Theodore Kirchen, Chicago, Ill.. Applicatidn Julys, 1940, serial No. 342,931

2 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of making articial flowers.

Its object is to provide an improved form of blank for the petals which shall facilitate the formation of the complete blossom and result in a more natural effect than has been secured heretofore.

The invention consists of certain features and elements of the structure and in the method of using them in combination, as herein shown and described and as indicated by the claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the parts of the assembling device diagrammatically in separated relation to illustrate the use of the petal blank which is the subject of this invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view showing the assembly process in operation.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a completed blossom made in accordance with this invention.

Figure 4 is a plan view of .one form of petal blank.

Figure 5 is a plan view of another form of petal blank.

When artificial owers are made of paper or other sheet material, such as wood fiber, the petal units are sometimes cut out in flat form and then a plurality of such units are assembled by super-imposing their central portions and disposing the portions which represent the petal` outlines in staggered arrangement, so that when the units are formed up to simulate a blossom the central portions of the paper sections can be shaped into a small, solid mass, resembling the calix of the flower, to which a stem of any suitable material, such as wire wrapped with paper,

may be attached. One method of assembling such petal units and their stem is shown and described in Patent No. 2,062,276, dated November 24, 1936, which illustrates at petalI units of sheet material formed with scalloped edges to simulate the outlines of the petals, each disk representing several petals. The method of assembly described in the said patent may be employed with the improved petal blanks which are the subject matter of this invention.

In accordance with my invention, each blank consists preferably of a pair of petals extending oppositely from an integral, narrow connecting portion. As shown in Figure 4, the petal areas I', I are connected by such narrow portions 2, and, similarly, in Figure 5, the petal areas I", I" are connected by a narrow, integral portion 2.

In Figure 1 I have shown an assembly device which includes a pasteboard box 3 having a bottom wall 4 which is somewhat elevated from the lower edges 5 of the side walls, and which is formed with a central opening 6. In makingup a paper ower I place on the bottom wall 4 two petal blanks withtheir narrow middle portions upon the disk I with their narrow middle portions 2a' crossed over the central opening 8 of the disk. For some types of flowers the eight petal areas thus provided would be suicient, but, if desired, an additional disk 9 may be superimposed upon the assembly already described, and within the side walls of the box 3 with two more petal blanks arranged with their narrow middle portions 2b crossed over the central opening I0 'of the disk. The disks 'I and 9 are so placed in the box thatthe petal areas Ia'and IID are staggered with respect to the petal areas l, thus forming a well lled-out blossom with overlapping petals, when theflower is completed.

In accordance with the method described in the aforesaid Patent No. 2,062,276, the assembly .of petal blanks and disks having been thus arranged, a plunger II is pressed against the central areas of the petal blanks and forces them through the openings 6, 8 and I0, as seen in Figure 2. The plunger I I is then carefully removed by giving it a slight twist and lifting itjout ofthe calix. The box 3 is inverted to give access to the calix, and this portion of the blossom is bound with soft wire which contracts it and releases it from the opening 6 of the box. The disks 1 and 9 are removed by slipping them over the petals Ia and Ib, thus shaping up the petals into vthe final blossom form. After the assembly is removed from the box 3 a suitable wire stem I2 may be applied to the calix portion and completed by an external wrapping I3 of green paper or the like.

The narrow connecting portions 2, 2a and 2b of the petal units are easily passed through the central openings 6, 8 and IIJ of the assembly device, and in their grouped arrangement they form a base or calix for the stem which is not too conspicuous, and which is not out of proportion to the petals of the blossoms as compared with natural owers of many species. imitating certain flowers which have unusually large cross-section at the calix, this part may be enlarged byextra wrappings of the same cover- Obviously, for .l

ing material I3 which is used over the wire stem I2; but with the narrowed middle portions, as shown, the petal units require less distortion in shaping them at the calix and adjacent theretov than when there is too much material at the center. And since the petal areas are all tapered from their maximum width toward the narrow connecting portions 2, there is no point at which the width of the unit changes abruptly; hence, the strains incident to shaping the ower in the assembly process are transmitted and distributed effectively as between the petal areas and the narrow connecting portions of the unit, withmay be practicable to arrange three or four petals around a common center, with an integral connecting area of reduced width, but I have out serious danger of tearing or breaking them.

It has been customary when constructing artificial flowers in accordance with previous methcds, such as described in Patent No. 2,062,276, 'to employ petal blanks or disks of special Japanese wood bre, because this material could be bentV or folded with equal facility in any direction. A special advantage of the present invention is that-it permits the manufacture of artificial flowers from blanks made of ordinary crepepaper which does not fold or bend equally well in both directions, but which can be arranged with its wrinkles or creases running longitudinally of the blank, that is, lengthwise of the petals and of the narrow connecting portions so that when the portion 2 has been bent double in the formation of the calix the upstanding petals are readily bent or creased into graceful conformations; and when several of these blanks are employed, as above described, the petals will react similarly and uniformly tothe forming and assemblingv process.

Figure 4 shows one configuration for the petal areas I', with sharpened nodes or points I X at the middle of each petal, while Figure 5 represents a different type in which there is a depression Iy in the exposed edge of each petal. It will be evident that, other petal outlines may be employed for simulating different flowers, but that in each case the narrowed connecting section 2 will be substantially the same. In some instances it found that blanks in which the petals are formed in pairs are quite satisfactory for constructing a wide range of imitation flowers. While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the ar-t that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may bemade IWithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that the same is not limited to the particular form herein shown and described, except in so far as indicated by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1'. An artificial flower composed of a plurality of layers of crepe paper, each layer comprising a pair of petal areas connected by a relatively narrow integral portion with the creases of the paper extending longitudinally of the petals and of said narrow connecting portion, the saidV narrowv portions being superimposed upon each other, with the petal portions arranged in staggered relation, the narrow portions being gathered into the formy of ya calix with the petals spreading therefrom.

2. The methodof making an artificial flower which consists in cutting from crepe paper a plurality of petal blanks each comprising two petalv areas: with a relatively narrow integral portion of said paper connecting them and with the creases of the crepe paper extending longitudinally of the petals and of said narrow portion, then vsuperimposing the narrow portions of said blanks upon each other with the petal portions arranged inv staggered relation, then bending and gathering the narrow portions 'as a group out of the plane of the petals to form a calix, shaping lthe petals individually to simulate a blossom and finally attaching a stem structure to the calix portion.

' THEODORE KIRCHEN. 

